Timeline

• Jan. 27, 2017 – President Donald J. Trump issued executive order No. 13769 barring entry to the U.S. of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. The countries are Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, and Libya. The order also suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, and indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from the U.S.

• Jan. 28, 2017 – Protests began almost immediately across the country, and the ACLU requested a nationwide injunction.

• Feb. 9, 2017 – Federal appeals court refused to reinstate the travel ban, ruling the administration had shown no evidence that anyone from the seven nations had committed terrorist acts in the United States.

• Feb. 22, 2017 – Trump administration said it will delay issuing a revised executive order until the following week.

Faris Aqrawi and a sizeable contingent of family members had to wait almost an hour before his sister’s flight arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s international terminal Wednesday.

She had to wait two years and 90 days to take the flight.

Left on her own after many of her relatives emigrated to the United States -- her brother included -- Faeza Aqrawi left her home in Iraq and traveled to Turkey in hopes of being approved as a refugee and granted asylum in the US.

Once she arrived in Turkey, she found herself in a sea of people hoping for the same. After two years, she was granted refugee status but had to wait an additional 90 days for a health exam.

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“We are all very happy to see her,” said Faris, 55, from Sterling Heights, who was wearing a stylish blue suit and looking every bit like the university professor he was while living in Iraq. He’s now a substitute teacher in Madison Heights and other cities. He was joined at the airport Wednesday by his wife, children and a couple dozen relatives,

Then he looked around at the crowd of people who turned out to welcome Faeza including members of Samaritas New American Services, one of several agencies coordinating the refugee’s arrival and resettlement here.

“And very excited,” he added. “I visited her in 2014 but that’s the last time I saw her.”

She and others are arriving to the U.S. in what may be a very small window while legal arguments continue over a Jan. 27 executive order by U.S. President Donald J. Trump that banned travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iraq. The president’s order also applied to travel from nationals of Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Somalia and Libya.

Specifically, the order temporarily barred travel to the U.S. from the seven countries for 90 days. It also suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from the U.S.

But the order has been stayed by federal courts and the Trump administration has said a revised order may come soon. Immigration was an issue during the presidential campaign last year and remains a priority of the president.

A family of Syrian refugees was scheduled to arrive at Detroit Metro Airport Friday, Feb. 10, a far fewer number than originally expected by Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan because of the executive order.

“In January before the ban, we expected 52,” said Atheel Zora, a caseworker at Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan. “This is the first family to arrive since the ban was lifted.

“We were expecting multiple families, but their flights had to be rescheduled because of the ban,” Zora said.

Catholic Charities is among the Michigan agencies that help relocate refugees to the United States, primarily southeast Michigan. It has locations across southeast Michigan, in Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, St. Clair, Monroe, and Lapeer counties.

Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan and Samaritas have traditionally assisted refugees in southeast Michigan. Samaritas, formerly known as Lutheran Social Services, has several locations across southeast Michigan. In recent years other groups have stepped up to help resettle refugees and immigrants to the U.S., including the Chaldean Community Foundation, ACCESS, the Chaldean American Ladies of Charity, Welcoming Michigan, Welcome MAT Detroit, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and Warren’s Islamic Organization of North America.

“The future is unknown,” Zora said. “We’re just hoping that something good will happen and that we’ll start receiving more families.”

Destinations

Michigan has been a major destination for refugees and immigrants from the seven countries the president’s executive order applied to.

The Associated Press, using refugee numbers from the State Department, looked at the destination cities of immigrants from the seven countries from 2007 through the first month of this year.

The U.S. has taken in nearly 270,000 immigrants and refugees from those nations since 2007, according to the AP analysis of State Department data. California has accepted the most, 56,235, followed by Michigan, 24,729.

The AP analysis found 2016 was the busiest year in the past decade for refugee arrivals from the seven countries targeted by Trump’s executive order.

Some 43,259 refugees from the countries arrived in the last year, more than a third from war-torn Syria. The number of Syrian refugees dramatically increased in recent years –- from just 26 in 2007, to 247 in 2014 and to 15,479 in 2016.

Michigan received 3,607 immigrants or refugees from the seven countries since January 2016 through January of this year. Of the 3,607, 1,412 were from Iraq, but 1,788 were from Syria.

More locally, the State Department numbers show Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties as the chief destinations for 80 percent of immigrants or refugees leaving the seven countries since 2007:

• Oakland County has been the destination for 10,559 since 2007, mostly from Iraq. Within the county, Southfield has been the destination for 4,442 from Iraq. Troy has taken in 2,697 from Iraq and 618 from Syria.

• Macomb County has been the destination for many from Iran, with 4,256 settling in Sterling Heights and 1,530 settling in Warren. Another 435 from Syria have headed to Clinton Township.

• In Wayne County, Dearborn has taken in 374 from Syria and 816 from Iraq. Dearborn Heights has been the destination for 205 Iraqis and Detroit the destination for 310 Iraqis.

Welcome home

Among the young people who swarmed Faeza at the Detroit airport was Faris’ daughter, Marysoul Mousa-Aqrawi, who is pursuing her master’s degree in basic medical science at Wayne State University.

During the wait for Faeza, she and her father talked about what they thought of the recent ban and lengthy process for refugees.

“I understand the need,” Faris said. “I have a house and I want to protect it, so I have a security system in place. That’s what America needs, but I also see a lot of innocent people like my sister getting caught up in the process.”

Marysoul agreed.

“He (Trump) is just trying to protect this country. He doesn’t want it to be like Iraq and for that I am grateful,” said the 25-year-old. “I saw people die right in front of me -- mowed down by cars while walking in the street... That’s why I came here. I don’t want my children, in the future, to see what I’ve seen. I don’t want that for America.”

The process of becoming a refugee to the U.S. is arduous. It has not has not changed since the executive order was announced on Jan. 27 other than a brief halt in refugee arrivals, according to Sean De Four, Samaritas Vice-President for Child and Family, who oversees refugee resettlement statewide.

“From here, we do not know what will happen, whether Michigan will welcome any more refugees this fiscal year (which ends Sept. 30, 2017),” De Four said. “That is largely due to the cap of 50,000 refugees nationwide total for the FY17 (fiscal year 2017) that the president has announced. We await the next developments to see how refugee resettlement continues in Michigan and our nation.”

At Detroit Metro Airport, it took a while but after years of waiting Faris and his family spotted his sister’s smile.